Notes:

Work Text:

A small raven haired girl sat on the floor of King Cole's office, playing with a jigsaw puzzle, at the feet of Bigby Wolf. The puzzle ended up as a picture of a German Castle, surrounded by snow capped mountains. She was sifting through the pieces for one of the clouds, tuning in to the tense conversation above.

"How did this happen? Is it... curable?" Bigby asked tentatively, watching over the small girl fawning over the castle in the puzzle.

"Calm down Bigby, it was just a rogue spell- they happen all the time. She'll be just fine." King Cole smiled reassuringly.

"Okay, how long will it take?" Bigby inquired, relieved to hear this state was temporary.

"No more that two weeks, from what the witches have told me. Don't worry, you'll have old Snow back soon." The Old King winked playfully.

"Thank God. So, did anything happen to the witch?" Snow was smiling wide, snapping the final pine tree piece into the puzzle.

"Not much, just left a bit of mist in the room. Anyway, I've been thinking about who would take care of young Ms. White here."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"Well Bigby, I was thinking you could take her home." King Cole's eyebrows arched. Snow looked up, becoming interested in the conversation.

"Have you seen my apartment? It's disgusting. I live with a literal pig." Bigby protested.

"I think you both share a feeling of trust. You can learn a lot about each other, and besides, I would only put her in your care." King Cole had the air of an all knowing grandfather.

"Alright. What about work?" Bigby crossed his arms like a scolded puppy.

"There aren't any cases, Fabletown is in harmony for once. If something happens, take her along. You'll find she's rather bright. Now, I suggest you show her your apartment, assuming you can't find any other excuses." King Cole replied wittily.

Bigby couldn't find any response to this, The Old King could be rather clever when he wanted to. He turned to the young girl, it was almost eerie seeing a young Snow White, who looked hardly five or six. Her galaxy blue eyes were wide, and filled with childhood curiosity.

"Now Ms. White, this is Mr. Wolf, you'll be staying with him for the time being. He'll take good care of you." King Cole looked to Bigby, his cue to say something. Snow beamed at being called Miss.

"Hey Snow, you can call me Bigby. Do you want to see my apartment?" Bigby bent down on his knees to see eye-to-eye with Snow. Bigby smiled at the young girl, and her piercing blue eyes. She didn't cower like most children would have, and nodded excitedly.

"Mr. Wolf?" Snow asked as she followed Bigby out of the office, fast walking to keep up.

"Yeah Snow?"

"I think I may know you." She held onto his pinky finger to keep up.

"You do. We were friends." Bigby answered.

"Was it before the spell you were talking about?" Snow certainly was a sharp one.

"It was." Bigby answered quickly, not wanting to confuse her. She seemed satisfied with the answer.

"Okay. Is it true you live with a pig?" Snow inquired.

"Yeah. His name is Colin. I'll show you him, but he may not be the most exciting pig out there." Bigby inserted the key in the hole and twisted it, opening the door to Snow.

Snow stared around at the dank, dirty apartment with wide eyes full of wonder. "It's amazing Bigby." She walked up to Colin, who was taking a nap on the big cobalt chair.

"What the fuck..." Colin opened his eyes lazily.

"He talks?" Snow poked Colin's large stomach.

"Hey! Stop." Colin murmured.

"Be nice Colin. Snow is our guest for around two weeks." Colin got the I'll-explain-later-so-stay-quiet-for-now expression. "Okay Snow, do you want to explore?" She ran off to some decrepit corner of the apartment.

"So Bigby, was it a spell or something?" Colin questioned.

"Yeah. King Cole insisted she stay here." Bigby pushed Colin off the chair.

"You must be pretty fucking obvious, but that's damn screwed up for King Cole."

"Shut up Colin. Just try to tone down the swearing alright? I'm gonna do this right." Bigby's eyes shone with something akin to determination.

"I'll do what I damn well please Bigby." Colin protested.

"Not if you want to sleep on the curb."

"Fair enough." Colin replied. "But don't let Snow touch the mold in the corner, it's been there for a week."

"Oh shit!" Bigby dashed off to some crevice of the apartment, losing his professional demeanor swiftly, while Colin tried to fall asleep again. He was in for an interesting two weeks.